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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 252 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 17 June 2021 by Ms J.J. Shaw

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

KEYSTART — ABORIGINAL HOME OWNERSHIP

252. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Housing:

I refer to the McGowan Labor government's significant support for those looking for their first home.

Several members interjected.

The SPEAKER: I am sorry. We have moved on to the next question. Can I ask the member for Swan Hills to start again, please.

Ms J.J. SHAW: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was perhaps a little more awake than the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

I refer to the McGowan Labor government's significant support for those looking for their first home, including its massive investment in affordable housing across Western Australia. Can the minister outline to the house how this government's significant investment in the Keystart scheme is assisting more Aboriginal Western Australians in owning their own home?

Mr J.N. CAREY replied:

I thank the member for her question and, in particular, her passionate advocacy given the fires that affected her electorate and the impact on housing in that area.

I am deeply proud to be part of the McGowan government that has an underlying strong commitment to enable Western Australians to own their own first home. We have invested heavily to enable more affordable homes in Western Australia. Of course, we introduced the building bonus grant, which has been a huge success with more than 24 000 building approvals in the past 12 months. But we also made changes to the Keystart program. We increased the borrowing limit by $243 million. As part of those changes, we also lifted the income threshold for both singles and couples. The results speak for themselves. Overall, for Keystart, there has been a 144 per cent increase in the number of loans, and we are on track to more than 3 750 loans in this financial year. Of those loans, $200 million worth are in regional Western Australia, and 81 per cent of those loans are to new first home buyers. Of course, we are acutely aware that Aboriginal Australians have historically faced disadvantage in owning their first home. As I said in the debate yesterday, we understand that providing a first home has many incredible benefits in terms of the health, mental health, social connection and wellbeing of the general community. We are making a very strong effort in assisting Aboriginal people in Western Australia to purchase their first home. We have a dedicated Aboriginal home ownership scheme with a team of people who are working with current and potential borrowers to help them get that first loan. As part of that, we provide some incentives to people, including, for example, a $3 000 grant towards potentially buying public housing property to make their first home. I am pleased to say that over our term of government, we have seen strong results. Keystart has approved loans. Under the Aboriginal home ownership scheme, 192 households have been approved at a value of $53.6 million. That is 192 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households that are getting their first foot through the door. They are achieving that dream, that aspiration, and the numerous benefits that come with the security of being in their own home.